by coach steve ilg, ryt/uscf/cpt

Doubt is a potent poison of self-confidence. When we doubt our capacity to achieve something,  we whittle away precious stores of Trust, Faith, and Self-Confidence.   For athletes, the most powerful ally we can bring to a Start Line is confidence...confidence borne from countless hours of training and inner work.  

The weekend before last, I raced one of - if not the - nation's highest (13,066') half marathon's the Kendall Mountain Half Marathon up the road from me in Silverton, Colorado.  Because I am a Wholistic Fitness athlete,  (my training is wholeness instead of sport specificity),  in the days before the race I doubted my ability to race the event.   I had only ran 7 times this summer before the race.  My father recently passed and I spent lots of appropriate yet draining time and energy with my suddenly-widowed mom (they had been together over 65 years). Add to that, the chronic intensity of being a business owner while raising a chi-filled 3 year-old at my age (49), and you can get a pretty good idea of why I not only rely on MAP Amino Acids and BodyHealth Complete+Detix for my cellular health,  but you can also probably relate to why I found myself in a quagmire of doubt as I prepared to Toe The Start Line.   I looked up at Kendall Mountain soaring into the vaulted canopy of my beloved San Juan sky and felt my soul shiver with anxiety.

Arriving at the Start Line and beginning my warm up, I relaxed in my breath.  An empowering rhythm arose from within my conscious breathing bringing with it an emerging Confidence which I used to ease my Doubt.   Jogging through the graveled streets of this tiny mountain hamlet,  I recalled an odd interaction i once had with of a famous "professional skeptic."  This fellow - an ultra cyclist which is how I came to know him - made his living going around the world and 'disproving' phenomena, miracles, and the such.  He was quite proud that he did not believe in anything that cannot be "scientifically proven."    As is not uncommon among ultra athletes,  obsessiveness dripped off him like oil off a busted piston.   I was a keen and easy target for his scientific sterility...  

"Ilg," he once said to me,  "you talk all about chi and prana and this and that, yet for whatever you teach, I can disprove it."

I have a client who is a runner. I recommended MAP to him and just got this response from him:

I started taking MAP last week, and: WOW.  Perhaps it coincided with me making a big stride in my strength development, but I have felt a remarkable different in endurance, strength, recovery when taking it.  My longer runs have gone smoothly, I have much greater energy and strength with weightlifting.  Again, not sure if is a coincidence, or if is a psychological effect in part.  But, whatever the case, this past week I have been feeling remarkably stronger.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO

Team Bodyhealth,

I am happy to report that after brief slump after this year's Best Ranger Competition, I am feeling great and my daily training is going well.

I working through a non-standard strength and conditioning program with some of the officers in my shop and it is going well. 

One big change for me recently has been my new job as the Battalion Operations Officer for 4th Battalion, 3rd US Infantry Regiment.  My new job as the operations officer requires more hours than any other job that I've had thus far in the Army.  My time is more valuable now than it has ever been.  This is where MAP continues to deliver.  After crushing ourselves in the morning at physical training, I can't afford to head into my first meeting (or the day) sluggish/tired/sore, etc.

"I didn't expect the run to be so hard."

"I had a great swim and bike and then the wheels came off."

"I was so unprepared for that run!"

You frequently hear comments such as these when you hang around the finish line area of a 70.3 or an Ironman race. There's plenty of elation at having accomplished the task, but there's also plenty of complaint about how taxing the run was.

Let me say, right up front: The run, in a distance triathlon, is going to be tough.

Paula Newby-Fraser was down on the ground just yards from the finish line and thought she was dying. Sean Welch and Wendy Ingraham crawled on all fours to the finish line. Peter Reid once announced his retirement shortly after an Ironman run, saying it simply took too much from him, and Mirinda Carfrae said she wanted to kill her coach who insisted she keep the pace through to the end. And these are all seasoned professionals who are ridiculously talented runners.

For an age-grouper, the run is somewhat slower than the pros, but no less painful.

Knowing this, shouldn't we be prepared?

We have several programs through which you can earn free MAP.

BodyHealth Winner's Circle - Win your age group in a sanctioned event and win a free bottle of MAP.

Automatic Re-order Program - When you sign up for our Auto Re-order program, every 12th bottle is free. Good with any BodyHealth.com product.

Affiliate Program - Earn commissions when people purchase supplements that you have referred to the BodyHealth.com website.